FC Goa to take on India U-19 football team in a friendly

FC Goa’s marquee player Robert Pires in action in a friendly against Sesa football academy

Panaji, 2nd Oct 2014 FC Goa will be playing its second friendly against the India under - 19 football team this Saturday evening at 4pm at Tilak Maidan, Vasco.

Ahead of ISL, which will begin on October 12, the franchise teams have been playing friendly matches with various football clubs. In its first friendly match played some days ago FC Goa triumphed over Sesa Football Academy by a margin of 3 goals (Score 3-0).

The Indian Super League club has already triggered a whirlwind of interest when it signed on a genuine Brazilian legend and three-time World Cupper Arthur Antunes Coimbra fondly known as Zico as its marquee coach. Zico has begun putting the FC Goa lads through the motions at team training sessions and is gearing for the first season of the ISL.

Former French international and Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires who has been signed on as a marquee player with team FC Goa will play along with the squad. Pires was part of the French national squad which won the 1992 and 2000 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro finals respectively. He also represented France in the 1996 Olympic Games.

Pires’s club career is a trail of glory too. As a player he peaked during his six-year stint at Arsenal from 2000-06, where he was part of the squad which won three FA cups and two Premier League titles. He was also a part of the Arsenal squad nicknamed ‘The Invincibles’ which remained unbeaten through the season of 2003-04.

The squad includes a healthy mix of young and experienced players both domestic and international. The team consists of Indian players who have made it to the league finals several times. These players along with the ones we have been selected from the draft, being coached by Zico make for a fabulous team